Abstract:
The megalithic necropolis of Panoría (Darro, Granada) is an excellent case study for
characterising the megalithic populations of southeastern Iberia, as well as for
determining the role the megalithic phenomenon would have played in the social and
cultural dynamics. It was excavated between 2015 and 2019 by the “GEA. Material
Culture and Social Identity in Recent Prehistory in the South of the Iberian Peninsula"
Research Group from the University of Granada Department of Prehistory and
Archaeology, during which nine of the 19 identified tombs were studied. It presents a
period of use between the mid-4th and late-3rd millennia BC and has a series of features
that make it unique in the southeast. In addition to having been recently excavated using
a systematic methodology, the anthropological record of many of the tombs was well
preserved. This allowed us, for the first time in the southeast, to evaluate the funerary
gestures and biographies of the different tombs.
This doctoral thesis focuses on three main objectives. On the one hand, the
anthropological characterisation of the people interred in the Panoría necropolis has
been attempted through the analysis of the palaeodemography, palaeopathology,
musculoskeletal stress markers and epigenetic traits. The number of user generations
and their composition was also identified and the different funerary deposition events
observable in each burial defined. Finally, the study of the funerary deposition formation
processes was addressed from a multi-proxy approach in which different variables were
interrelated. These included archaeological information, radiocarbon chronology,
taphonomic processes and the indices of skeletal fragmentation, representation and
preservation.
Thanks to the bioarchaeological methodology applied, it was possible to conclude that
the Panoría necropolis was used for female and male individuals of all ages in its funeral
ritual, meaning there was no gender or age bias. The state of health of the individuals
was the norm for this type of pre-industrial population, with osteoarthritis and
infectious processes prevailing over other pathologies. The accumulation of dental
calculus was a constant find, indicating certain dietary patterns, as well as poor oral
hygiene. The musculoskeletal stress markers seem to suggest that certain tasks were undertaken by specific genders, although there were no major differences. The
documentation of certain hereditary features could indicate the existence of small
communities with endogamic traditions. Finally, three ritual practices were identified:
a) Primary burial followed by in situ decomposition of the individual, b) Selective
extraction of skeletal remains, and c) Differential handling of subadult skeletal remains.
This ritual variability demonstrates the complexity of megalithic funerary practices.
Funerary Archaeology